Hi, first post here. After searching the internet for a solution to my camera problem I found this forum, just an amazing amount of information! I tried searching for my problem but didn’t find anything similar. Anyhow, the camera in the 3rd brake light that looks at the bed has stopped working. I use this camera a lot for hitching up my fifth wheel trailer, and it’s worked just fine until recently. Lately when I put the truck in reverse to hitch, once the backup camera activates I try to select the bed camera and nothing happens. Instead, it freezes up the camera system completely - I can’t select any other cameras at all. Putting the truck in drive the screen continues to display whatever camera it was last showing. I have to shut the truck off and wait a bit before the system goes back to normal. After a fresh startup, I have tried changing the camera display to other views and they all work fine - until I try to switch to the bed camera, then the whole thing locks up again. Could it be a bad camera? I also noticed that I don’t seem to be getting any OTA software updates, it’s Sync 4 version 134 which hasn’t ever changed that I know of, so maybe a software issue? Anything I can try here before I break down and take it to the dealer? I just hate the thought of leaving the truck there for weeks or months while they wait for a part or something.

My truck is a 2022 F-450 Platinum with Sync 4, bone stock. TIA for any input!

 

Sounds like the camera module is going unresponsive. Ask your dealer if you can keep possession of the truck until the part arrives. This works with my dealer, but I've heard others don't allow it. Not sure why. :|

 

Thanks, I was afraid of that. I tried taking off the 3rd brake light and checking the plug, connection was good and no water intrusion. Couldn’t find a part number or I would have just bought one and replaced it myself.

 

Should be free with the warranty, but without they're around $600 new and are completely sealed and unserviceable. So don't let someone try and sell you a broken one for parts for cheaper.

 

Mine has been doing this also, I think it's heat related. Mine seems to work early in the morning when its cool out or when it's been parked in the shade. Afew times it will start working after going through the car wash.
very frustrating because it never seems to work when I need it. It will go in for warranty this fall for this and the steering wheel clock spring. Kinda sucks the steering wheel noise happens when it's cold out and the camera acts up when it hot.

 

I know exactly how you feel, every time I need it to hitch up the fiver the damn thing locks up! I have been in colder weather, so it doesn’t seem to be temperature-related in my case. Oddly, one time after it froze up I was traveling down the road about an hour later and went over a bump and the camera came on all by itself. Couldn’t turn it off that time either. It reset itself after a fuel stop.

 

I’m sure it will be a free fix, provided they can get the part in a timely manner. Still within warranty.

 

The cargo cam not working when selected seems to be a pretty common issue. In older models there was a defect in the camera or the connector near the spare tire gets gunked up. My 2021 started acting up because of a bent pin in the connector behind the camera. Unfortunately it took the dealer several days to diagnose.

 

I pulled the 3rd brake light off and checked the connection, no issues. Not really sure how a connection near the spare tire would affect a camera above the rear window? Seems like a separate wiring harness back there. Nevertheless, I don’t see any signs of debris on any connections under the back of the truck. But I think I’ll pull off the 3rd brake light one more time and check those pins more closely.

 

You'd be surprised all the problems that thing causes....weird stuff.

 

Another thing to note if they do end up replacing the camera, make sure to remind them to calibrate it. Otherwise you will be missing the white line and will have to take it back in. I saw this mentioned by a bunch of other folks who had the camera replaced.

 

As a test, I switched the truck on and confirmed the camera was still locking up the whole system. Shut it off and unplugged the camera, then I turned it back on and tried switching to the (unplugged) camera in question - same behavior, locked all the cameras up. Without switching off, I plugged the camera back in and got a fuzzy picture. Powered off for a few minutes, then back on just to reset everything. The camera came on, just with a garbled picture. So I started fussing with the connector at the camera, plugging and unplugging, and wiggled it around a bit, and could get the picture to clear up intermittently. So it appears to be the connector on the harness side, which would explain why the camera flickered on/off when I hit a nasty bump while towing. Tried a little dielectric grease, no effect. If I put a little pressure on one side of the connector it works fine.

 

First time I experienced this on my 2022, June 6th 2022 build date, it was 96F with my rear parked facing the sun. My backup camera didn't come on and I had to hitch up my gooseneck. Pushing the camera button did nothing. I never had a problem with my camera before this instance. After that I've had issues with my rear camera any time its over 90F and when its cool I dont have issues. I am about to take my 3rd brake light off to inspect the connection and put some dielectric grease in there since Ford doesn't believe in using any anywhere. I also read about the connections under the bed on an earlier thread before I ever had an issue. Driving on a bumpy road after I couldn't get the camera to work one day and the screen randomly switched to the CHMSL camera about 10 miles after I pushed the button. This is what the screen looked like.


I've also had issues when the camera is working that it constantly kicks back to the main screen while driving instead of just staying on that camera until I come to a stop. I thought it was after an OTA update but can't confirm. My truck has only seen rain 5 or 6 times since it was built but I've only driven it in the rain twice although once was a HARD rain around Nashville four months before I ever experienced any issues. I will take it to a dealership if I can't find a connection that is affecting it.

 

Same with mine, although I hit a bumpy stretch of interstate when mine did that. I wonder if the temperature might have warped the plastic connector in the roof.

 

I just started experiencing the exact same issue you described yesterday. Just finding someone else talking about it online was difficult. Did you ever find a solution? Thanks